Teens prepare Thanksgiving pies at Norwell library

Tuesday

Nov 21, 2017 at 5:53 PMNov 21, 2017 at 5:56 PM

Mary Whitfill The Patriot Ledger thelittlewreck

NORWELL – For seventh grader Lydia Lacorazza, baking is an integral part of the holidays. On Tuesday afternoon, she stepped out of her home kitchen and joined her peers at Norwell library where a group of teens came together to make Apple Snickerdoodle Cobbler to be baked ahead of Thanksgiving dinner.

“I like baking - it’s fun,” Lacorazza said. “You’re making something you can eat and it’s a really artsy thing to do. I’ve always had a passion for it, honestly.”

Diane Rodriguez, adult services librarian in Norwell, has been hosted a pie-making event on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week for the last three years. She first got the idea from a young-adult librarians meeting she attends monthly, then planned it with the help of the library’s Teen Advisory Group.

“It’s always been successful,” Rodriguez said. “I always have 11 or 12 students, which is the max, and everyone seems to enjoy it.”

Elizabeth Hanna, a sophomore at Norwell High School, helped plan this year’s event as a member of the advisory group.

“I did this even last year when we made the chocolate cheesecake pie,” Hanna, 15, said. “It got a little crazy, a lot of people came and it got messy with all the melted chocolate, but I’m hoping this year’s will be just as good.”

The participants started by peeling baskets full of Macoun apples, then mixing them with brown sugar and cinnamon. Because the pies had to be no-bake at the library, the recipe substituted a traditional pie crust for a top layer of cinnamon-sugar dipped cookie dough that will spread across the pie as it bakes.

“I’ve definitely made a lot of pies but never one without a crust, so it was interesting to me,” Lacorazza said.

Rodriguez says cooking events are always a hit with the library’s teenagepatrons, and is already planning a chocolate fondue party closer to Christmas.

“Teens like to cook and to work with food and sweets,” Rodriguez said.